Word of Mouth blog + Barbecue | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth+barbecue
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How to make the perfect bean burgershttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/22/how-to-make-perfect-bean-burgers
Can bean burgers ever compete with their meaty equivalents, and if not, which vegetarian option would you rather have at a barbecue?<p>Bean burgers are one of those meat-free dishes, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/30/coffee-vegetarian-sausages-matthew-fort" title="">like Glamorgan sausages</a> or <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/dec/15/how-cook-perfect-nut-roast" title="">nut roasts</a>, which suffer unfairly from comparison with what us omnivores like to term &quot;the real thing&quot;.</p><p>While I'm not wild about the idea of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/sep/16/what-meat-substitutes-taste-like" title="">mock meat</a>, these are all foods that don't need to piggyback on any better-known meaty relatives to be worth cooking: they're all great recipes which just happen to be vegetarian, and I'd quite happily eat them instead of the so-called &quot;real thing&quot; any day. (Though not every day. Variety is the spice of life, after all.)</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/22/how-to-make-perfect-bean-burgers">Continue reading...</a>Vegetarian food and drinkBarbecueSummer food and drinkMain courseFood & drinkLife and styleThu, 22 Aug 2013 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/aug/22/how-to-make-perfect-bean-burgersFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity Cloake's perfect beanburger. Photographs: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity Cloake's perfect beanburger. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake2013-08-22T09:00:00ZBarbecue recipes: 10 of the best for a hot summer dayhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jul/19/barbecue-recipes-10-best-summer-day
The sun is out, the drinks are on ice. Yes, it's time to fire up the barbie and try out one of our experts' perfect barbecue recipes <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jul/19/barbecue-recipes-10-best-summer-day">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueFood & drinkLife and styleMeatFishSeafoodVegetarian food and drinkFri, 19 Jul 2013 08:57:42 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jul/19/barbecue-recipes-10-best-summer-dayPhotograph: Romas Foord for thePitt Cue's chicken wings Photograph: Photograph: Romas FoordFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity's perfect ribs. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianEmily Brooke Sandor/Chronicle BooksSeared tofu with date barbecue sauce. Photograph: Emily Brooke Sandor/Chronicle BooksChris Terry/PavilionMitch Tonks' grilled lobster. Photograph: Chris Terry/PavilionColin Campbell for the GuardianA good steak sandwich. Photograph: Colin CampbellFelicity CloakePerfect guacamole. Photograph: Felicity CloakeKaren Thomas/New HollandTandoor roasted guinea fowl. Photograph: Karen Thomas/New HollandColin CampbellQuesadilla. Photograph: Colin CampbellFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect jerk chicken. Photograph: Felicity CloakeGetty ImagesBarbecue on a warm summer evening … is there anything better? Photograph: Getty ImagesGuardian Staff2013-07-19T08:57:42ZIn defence of campsite cooking: great recipes to make on a camping stovehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/03/in-defense-of-campsite-cooking
A new survey tells us campers are abandoning their stoves and heading to local restaurants instead. But cooking is half the fun of a camping holiday, and easier than ever, too<p>A <a href="http://www.shropshirestar.com/shropshire-business/money/uk-money/2013/06/03/campers-resort-to-eating-out/" title="">recent survey published by the Post Office</a> indicates that almost half (44%) of Britons setting off on a camping holiday will be dining out when they're away. Around 28% say they're bored with cooking on a camping stove.</p><p>If this is true, it jars with the rising popularity of camping cookbooks in the UK. The <a href="http://www.coolcamping.co.uk/books/7-the-cool-camping-cookbook" title="">Cool Camping Cookbook</a> has sold over 25,000 copies over two editions. Annie Bell's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jun/20/annie-bell-camping-recipes" title="">The Camping Cookbook</a>, Martin Dorey &amp; Sarah Randall's <a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781444703894" title="">Camper Van Cookbook</a> and <a href="http://www.martindorey.com/camper-van-coast/" title="">Camper Van Coast</a> are all popular titles riding high in the Amazon charts.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/03/in-defense-of-campsite-cooking">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkCampingBarbecueTravelFamilyLife and styleMon, 03 Jun 2013 15:00:08 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jun/03/in-defense-of-campsite-cookingJosh Sutton/PRJosh Sutton's campsite-friendly Pancharagas. See below for full recipeJosh Sutton/PRMussels with beer and coriander is a great camping stove meal, writes Guyrope Gourmet author Josh Sutton. See below for the full recipe. Photograph: Josh SuttonJosh Sutton/PRMussels with beer and coriander is a great camping stove meal, writes Guyrope Gourmet author Josh Sutton. See below for the full recipe. Photograph: Josh SuttonJosh Sutton2013-06-03T15:00:08ZHow to cook perfect pulled porkhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jan/31/how-to-cook-perfect-pulled-pork
Is it possible to cook delicious pulled pork without the smoke and drama of a barbecue pit? Felicity Cloake says it is (just don't tell the good ol' boys ... )<p>Like the Ugg boot or the skinny jean (or, indeed, the irritating sartorial singular), American food is a trend which refuses to die. And, while I get irrationally annoyed by <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/oct/06/how-to-cook-perfect-macaroni-cheese">mac and cheese</a>, and obstinately refuse to warm to hot dogs, my love for barbecue glows as hot and bright as a burning hickory chip.</p><p>For a long time, barbecue was one of those things, like fanny packs or smiling, which was lost in translation on its way across the Atlantic. In the States, <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/17722664">barbecue</a> means slow, slow cooking: the hard-won fruits of smoke and devotion. In Britain, it is generally understood to be a race to burn meat before water starts falling from the sky.<br /><br />Pulled pork is, I think, American barbecue as its best – meat cooked so gently and tenderly that it can be gently teased apart by forks, or, more often fingers – smoky, juicy, and served with an aggressively piquant sauce, <a href="http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/East-Vs-West-Carolina-Pulled-Pork">the particulars of which</a> are the subject of fierce regional debate.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jan/31/how-to-cook-perfect-pulled-pork">Continue reading...</a>American food and drinkBarbecueFood & drinkLife and stylePorkThu, 31 Jan 2013 09:30:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/jan/31/how-to-cook-perfect-pulled-porkFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect pulled pork. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect pulled pork. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect pulled pork. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity Cloake2013-01-31T09:30:00ZHow to cook perfect jerk chickenhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/12/how-to-cook-perfect-jerk-chicken
How do you make your jerk chicken – or do you prefer pork, fish, or goat? And which other Caribbean dishes deserve to be better known in this country?<p>If you're familiar with any aspect of Caribbean cuisine, then it will almost certainly be jerk. Let's face it: spicy, crisply barbecued chicken or pork are an easier sell for most of us than hard food or stew peas. <a href="http://visitjamaica.com/jamaica-jerk/jerk-history.aspx">Native to Jamaica, the tradition</a> began with the indigenous Ta&iacute;no people who would cook their meat over fires made from the aromatic wood of the island's allspice trees – still the only way, devotees claim, to get that really authentic flavour (no one seems to import it the UK, so I'll have to take their word for it).</p><p>Jerk's distinctive seasoning – hot peppers, sweet allspice berries, thyme and ginger – however, is credited to the African slaves brought to the island by its Spanish and British colonisers, who also introduced the cooking pits which were traditionally used for jerk until the advent of the modern oil drum. (The name, apparently, is the Spanish version of an Andean dialect word for dried meat, ch'arki – presumably because the original jerk would have been smoked to preserve it.)</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/12/how-to-cook-perfect-jerk-chicken">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueFood & drinkLife and styleChickenWed, 11 Jul 2012 23:10:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2012/jul/12/how-to-cook-perfect-jerk-chickenFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect jerk chicken. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect jerk chicken. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeFelicity's perfect jerk chicken. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity Cloake2012-07-11T23:10:00ZHow to cook Christmas turkey. On the barbecuehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/dec/20/how-cook-christmas-turkey-barbecue
It's not tricky or slow, you don't need an enormous barbecue, and a turkey cooked over the coals is a succulent, crisp-skinned joy<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/dec/20/how-to-carve-turkey-pictures ">• In pictures: how to carve a turkey</a><p>If you've never barbecued a whole turkey before (neither had I until a couple of days ago), I'd like to suggest it as an option this Christmas. It's certainly the only way I'm going to cook turkeys from now on. Maybe chickens too. Barbecuing the bird is laughably easy, rather less frightening than <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/video/2011/nov/23/how-to-deep-fry-turkey">deep-frying it</a>, and quick. After two hours and 15 minutes, a 5kg turkey emerged golden, succulent and full of flavour. The dark meat was gamey, the breast juicy, the skin crisp and even.</p><p>Barbecuing the Christmas bird frees up your oven for potatoes or whatever else you're cooking. You only need a kettle barbecue, a bit of charcoal and a meat thermometer. (You could of course use a gas barbie too, on a low setting and without the burner(s) directly under the bird lit.) <a href="http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/tools-and-techniques/how-to-cook-a-turkey2.html">The practice is particularly popular in America</a> for the <a href="http://www.hotsmokebbq.com/020turkey/020en-turkey.php">Thanksgiving roast</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/dec/20/how-cook-christmas-turkey-barbecue">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueChristmasFood & drinkLife and styleMeatTurkeyTue, 20 Dec 2011 10:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/dec/20/how-cook-christmas-turkey-barbecueOliver ThringChristmas dinner with barbecued turkey. Photograph: Oliver ThringOliver ThringThe fully cooked, barbecued turkey. Photograph: Oliver ThringOliver ThringThe fully cooked, barbecued turkey. Photograph: Oliver ThringOliver Thring2011-12-20T10:00:00ZIndian summer, barbecue weekendhttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/30/indian-summer-barbecue-weekend
It's sunny! Is anyone <em>not</em> planning a barbecue this weekend?<p>Debate about <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/reality-check-with-polly-curtis/2011/sep/29/weather">whether this is an Indian summer or not</a> is largely irrelevant, top line is, it's hot, it's sunny, it's glorious and, with apologies to shiftworkers, it's the weekend. </p><p>As the supermarkets know, we'll all be celebrating in the best way we know - and apparently that's with <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/sep/28/indian-summer-retailers-cash-in">G&amp;Ts, ros&eacute; wine and burgers</a>. Yes, everyone's dusting their barbecues off in a unseasonably hot state of delirium. I'm hauling out that jar of gazpacho that's been looking sorry for itself in the fridge these last few weeks and planning a fishy weekend by the sea; mackerel over the coals, great big salads, kebabs with vegetables and halloumi (<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/26/which-true-king-of-cheeses">the king of cheeses</a>), some <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/aug/05/how-to-make-perfect-hamburger">home made burgers</a> and ice cold beer. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/30/indian-summer-barbecue-weekend">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueFood & drinkLife and styleWeatherFri, 30 Sep 2011 11:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/sep/30/indian-summer-barbecue-weekendKurt Lackovic/AlamySummer at last - fire up the barbie! Photograph: Kurt Lackovic/AlamyKurt Lackovic/AlamySummer at last - fire up the barbie! Photograph: Kurt Lackovic/AlamySusan Smillie2011-09-30T11:00:00ZHow to cook perfect barbecue ribshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/30/how-cook-perfect-barbecue-ribs
Is this mainstay of the American barbecue canon overrated or a porcine classic?<p>We just don't love bones like we used to. While I'm sure that every reader of this column has a freezer full of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/jun/10/stock-vegetable-fish-chicken">homemade stock</a>, is well au fait with the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2008/jan/20/recipes.foodanddrink">lamb shank</a> and never plumps for breast when there's thigh on offer, the real joy of bones – &quot;picking [them] up … and chewing the sweet juicy meat still clinging to them&quot;, as <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/02/12/1171128847228.html">Jennifer McLagan</a> frankly puts it in her fabulous book on the subject, <a href="http://www.guardianbookshop.co.uk/BerteShopWeb/viewProduct.do?ISBN=9781906502201">Cooking on the Bone</a> – is a sadly rare treat these days. She reckons they &quot;satisfy a deep primal urge to eat with our fingers&quot;; I suspect that gnawing on bones is one of the few purely textural pleasures left to us in western cuisine. </p><p>Ribs are, of course, supreme proof of the attraction; given each serving is three-quarters bone, if we didn't enjoy stripping off those sparse morsels of flesh, then they would have gone the way of other less meaty cuts – for who, apart from a few <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/fergus-henderson">Fergus Henderson</a> types, fancies chewing on a pig's ear? <br /><br />It's not just about texture though: not only does meat cooked on the bone tend to be more flavourful, but, in marked contrast to much modern pork, that around the ribs is marbled with fat, which means it's always succulent – even more so with spare ribs, the larger, meatier kind most familiar to us as the obligatory meat element of Mixed Starter number 2. For cooking at home, however, I prefer <a href="http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/porknography/rib_cuts.html">baby back ribs</a> (also known as loin rack in this country: a shorter, curved cut from up near the backbone. Not only does a whole rack look more impressive but – and, at the risk of infuriating barbecue experts everywhere – I'm convinced they taste better. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/30/how-cook-perfect-barbecue-ribs">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueMeatFood & drinkLife and styleAmerican food and drinkThu, 30 Jun 2011 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/30/how-cook-perfect-barbecue-ribsFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity's perfect ribs. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity's perfect ribs. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake2011-06-30T06:00:00ZHow to make perfect salsahttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/23/how-to-make-perfect-salsa
Is salsa the prima ballerina of your summer sauce season? What's your secret?<p>There's been a definite drop off in spray-tanned tandoori chicken wings and turgid pink tubes at the barbecues I've attended in the last couple of years. But it still seems that however carefully we blend <a href="http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/05/the-blumenburger-the-most-laborintensive-hamburger-in-the-world.html">chuck, short-rib and brisket</a> for juicy and flavourful burgers, and no matter how attentively we hover over the grill, we're still serving everything up with the same old condiments. I'll happily slather ketchup on a common or garden &quot;patty&quot; like an overexcited three-year-old, but a tenderly seared piece of skirt, or a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/aug/05/how-to-make-perfect-hamburger">hand-crafted burger</a> deserves better. </p><p>I'm not advocating making your own <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/recipes/article7074095.ece">tomato ketchup</a>; I've tried it, and, although it was objectively very tasty indeed, somehow it didn't quite hit the sugary, vinegary spot for a palate conditioned to Britain's leading brand. No, for something quick, easy and guaranteed to hit the spot with everything from what-do-you-mean-you-haven't-even-lit-it-yet? nibbles to grilled meat, seafood and vegetables, you need a salsa. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/23/how-to-make-perfect-salsa">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueAmerican food and drinkFood & drinkLife and styleSummer food and drinkThu, 23 Jun 2011 06:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/23/how-to-make-perfect-salsaFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity's perfect salsa. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake/GuardianFelicity's perfect salsa. Photograph: Felicity Cloake for the GuardianFelicity Cloake2011-06-23T06:00:00ZThe best barbecues are the pitshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/09/pulled-pork-barbecue-pit
A 'low and slow' recipe for pulled pork that will give you taste of the Carolinas and quite possibly a hankering for a real barbecue pit in the back garden<br /><br /><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/gallery/2011/jun/09/barbecue-pulled-pork-in-pictures">• In pictures: how to cook barbecued pulled pork</a><p>I think it's safe to say that Americans take their barbecue seriously. Get most US food-lovers into conversation about it and they'll bang on for hours about the relative virtues of the different styles.</p><p>In Texas and Kansas City - cattle country - beef is popular, particularly ribs and brisket, with big, sweet, hot and smoky sauces. The variations between the two can be discussed endlessly and with positively rabbinical precision. In Memphis, the hog is favoured. Great slabs of pork, slathered in enough sauce to satisfy big, Kung Fu Elvis at his most unhinged. But for me, the barbecue of the Carolinas is the best.<br /><br />I was lucky enough to live in various parts of North Carolina over a few years and I've never forgotten the experience of driving off the main roads to some grape-vine publicised <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pit_barbecue">pit</a>, hidden in a mountain hollow or a coastal backwater, to see a legendary pork-master slaving like a kobold in the smoke. Furniture in these places usually stretched to the plastic and folding. Tables were covered with newspaper if you were lucky and iced tea, on the rare occasions it was available, came in jam jars.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/09/pulled-pork-barbecue-pit">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueAmerican food and drinkMeatFood & drinkLife and styleThu, 09 Jun 2011 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/09/pulled-pork-barbecue-pitTim Hayward/GuardianTim Hayward's pulled pork. Photograph: Tim Hayward for the GuardianTim Hayward/GuardianTim Hayward's pulled pork in a bun. Photograph: Tim Hayward for the GuardianTim Hayward/GuardianTim Hayward's pulled pork in a bun. Photograph: Tim Hayward for the GuardianTim Hayward2011-06-09T09:00:00ZBarbecuing for beginnershttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/08/barbecue-for-beginners
A round-up of some basic techniques which will help make your barbecues easy, fun and remembered for the right reasons<p>As befits the early summer we're celebrating the sheer joy of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/07/consider-the-barbecue">cooking over fire in the great outdoors</a> this week - a practice as old as civilisation itself. In recent years TV chefs and the like have been encouraging us to try something a bit different (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/8527136/The-best-barbecue-recipes.html">barbecued English parsley risotto with snails and garlic butter</a>, anyone?), in some cases inspiring us to reach new heights but often leaving us grasping at unattainable dreams. </p><p>There's nothing wrong with culinary ambition but for my money, there isn't much better than chunks of well-sourced meat grilling over charcoal, to be scoffed with some good bread and a simple salad. Keeping it simple means you can enjoy the time with friends while getting the food right. For those of us who want to scale the culinary heights, Tim Hayward's forensic demonstration of how to cook Carolina-style pulled pork, is coming up tomorrow (mmm, pulled pork ... ) but today we're covering the basic rules and techniques that are often forgotten in our attempts to impress - or just after the third beer. <br /><br />If you have the time and money, there are barbecue courses on offer. <a href="http://www.brookhall.net/course_listings.aspx?course=barbecue">Brook Hall</a> near Milton Keynes offers evening workshops for &pound;45 and full day courses for &pound;179, and tuition is available from <a href="http://www.esfw.com/a-coursedates.asp">Edinburgh</a> to <a href="http://www.discovernorthernireland.com/BBQ-Sauces-and-Salads-Cookery-Course-Lisbellaw-Enniskillen-P21960">Enniskillen</a>. The <a href="http://www.grillacademy.co.uk/">Weber Academy</a> in Oxfordshire, who had me along to learn a thing or two at the launch of their travelling <a href="http://www.weberexperience.co.uk/">Weber Experience roadshow</a>, call theirs Thrill of the Grill (Americans call barbecues &quot;grills&quot;) and charge &pound;120 for each of its 2 days.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/08/barbecue-for-beginners">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkBarbecueWed, 08 Jun 2011 11:15:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/08/barbecue-for-beginnersHeinrich Van Den Berg/Getty Images / Gallo ImagesCooking on a braai in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Photograph: Heinrich Van Den Berg/Getty Images / Gallo ImagesHeinrich Van Den Berg/Getty Images / Gallo ImagesCooking on a braai in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Photograph: Heinrich Van Den Berg/Getty Images / Gallo ImagesRick Peters2011-06-08T11:15:00ZConsider the barbecuehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/07/consider-the-barbecue
Will we Brits ever really understand what barbecues are all about?<p>The June rain falls, and the thoughts are drawn to the British barbecue as the sparks fly upward. Ponder, if you will, its soggily estival joys. The paper plates, tepid ros&eacute;, brown lettuce, bovine protein and blackened wursts: there's something calm and comforting in their plucky drudgery. And often when an British barbie seems to go right, it's wrong. The other day the world witnessed the spectacle of <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/blog/2011/may/25/barack-obama#block-13">Obameron clapping tongs</a> while their wives served salad. It was an episode, one assumes, designed to endow the premiers with a safe, approachable blokiness, but it just looked weird and embarrassing. Never accept a flipped patty from a man wearing a tie, particularly when he's served it to you from a wok.</p><p>Most Britons, I think, simply don't <em>get</em> barbecues. They use them as ordinary cookers transplanted into the garden. Food always tastes better outdoors, of course, so even a crap barbecue can be fun, butch and boozy. But the point about barbecuing is that it's a different kind of cooking altogether.<br /><br />Here's a barbecue truism. The more skill and practice needed to operate the contraption, the more flavour you'll get from it. To barbecue is to strike a compromise between the taste of the food and the practicality of the machine. An electric grill heats up quickly and its temperature can be reliably controlled, but the food that comes off it tastes no better than something from an ordinary frying pan. Nor is gas anything special. A pork chop off a &pound;2,000 gas grill tastes no better than one from a &pound;50 griddle, and you don't need to ring Calor to fire up one of those.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/07/consider-the-barbecue">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkLife and styleBarbecueTue, 07 Jun 2011 09:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/jun/07/consider-the-barbecueKlaus Mellenthin / Westend61/CorbisSausages cooking on a barbecue. Photograph: Klaus Mellenthin / Westend61/CorbisKlaus Mellenthin / Westend61/CorbisSausages cooking on a barbecue. Photograph: Klaus Mellenthin / Westend61/CorbisOliver Thring2011-06-07T09:00:00ZWhat's the best barbecue marinade?http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/may/27/best-barbecue-bbq-marinade-recipe
Cookout, barbecue, braai - call it what you will, but you can always improve the results with a well-chosen marinade. What's your favourite recipe?<p>Barbecue fever has overtaken my local supermarket. Looking for some stewing steak last week I discovered that, since my last visit, the meat aisle had surrendered to an army of garishly coloured chicken pieces. Searching in vain among 15 varieties of 'speciality' sausage I reflected on the curious conservatism that overcomes the British palate at the first whiff of lighter gel. After a long, chilly winter, the nation is gripped by a collective <a href="http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/blog/332-barbecues/">crisis of grilling confidence</a>.</p><p>To break free of the infernal trinity (burgers, bangers and barbecue wings), you need to master the <a href="http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx">art of the marinade</a>. This is not only handy for tenderising more interesting but tougher cuts (like the elusive stewing steak, which can make excellent kebabs if properly treated), but also for livening up potentially dull summer staples like chicken breasts and pork chops.<br /><br />Most marinades work by using an acid base (vinegar, wine or lemon juice, for example) to weaken muscle tissue, making the meat feel softer and juicier in the mouth. Dairy products, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/spicytandooriyoghurt_5312.shtml">traditionally used as a marinade in northern India</a>, as well as for <a href="http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/07/buttermilk-fried-chicken-southern-fried.html">slightly heretical southern fried chicken</a>, are often claimed to have some special tenderising qualities in addition to their mild acidity. It has been suggested that &quot;calcium … activates enzymes in meat that break down proteins, a process similar to the way that <a href="http://www.finecooking.com/articles/marinades-flavor-tenderize.aspx">ageing tenderizes meat</a>&quot;.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/may/27/best-barbecue-bbq-marinade-recipe">Continue reading...</a>BarbecueFood & drinkLife and styleThu, 27 May 2010 07:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2010/may/27/best-barbecue-bbq-marinade-recipeFelicity CloakeOnglet with a wet rub. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeOnglet with chimichurri marinade. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeOnglet with yoghurt marinade. Photograph: Felicity CloakeFelicity CloakeCooked steaks. Photograph: Felicity CloakeGetty ImagesSummer's coming, time to dust off the barbecue. Photograph: Creativ Studio Heinemann/Getty Images/Westend61Getty ImagesMeat on barbecue grill Illustration: Getty ImagesFelicity Cloake2010-05-27T07:00:00ZWant a hot summer? Join the barbecuehttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/may/01/hot-sunny-summer-barbecue
Quick! It's sunny! Get the charcoal out! What's in your emergency barbecue kit?<p>Ah, sometimes life is good. It's the first day of May, the beginning of the bank holiday weekend. The sun is shining where I am and <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/apr/30/warm-summer-uk-forecast">the words of the Met Office</a> are rolling pleasingly around my head: &quot;<a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_177921?cid=rss">odds on for a barbecue summer</a>&quot;. Barbecue summer. Happy days. There can be few phrases that lift the spirits so effectively, especially after a winter as long and dank as the one we've just come through.<br /><br />There isn't much I enjoy more than eating outdoors – barbecues and picnics are wonderful things, and I always feel that even a normal lunch or dinner is elevated to the status of a special event by dint of being eaten outdoors. </p><p>Of course, there are people, good people, the world over (most of them in the USA) who take the art of outdoor cooking to a different level entirely. These devotees spend the off season gearing up for gargantuan championships and festivals, spending months planning the perfect marinade, <a href="http://www.bbqfools.com/BBQGrillsandSmokers.php">agonising over</a> the best <a href="http://www.jrenterprises.com/">water smokers</a>, outdoor <a href="http://www.cookshack.com/residential-barbecue-smokers">kitchens</a> or finding a <a href="http://www.olehickorypits.com/Default.aspx?CategoryID=76">suitable hickory pit</a> to allow them to pass on their barbecuing skills to the next generation. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/may/01/hot-sunny-summer-barbecue">Continue reading...</a>Life and styleFood & drinkBarbecueFri, 01 May 2009 12:00:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/may/01/hot-sunny-summer-barbecueJulian Hawkins/Rex FeaturesA cornucopia of grilled goodies. Photograph: Julian Hawkins/Rex FeaturesJulian Hawkins/Rex FeaturesA cornucopia of grilled goodies. Photograph: Julian Hawkins/Rex FeaturesSusan Smillie2009-05-01T12:00:00ZTop barbecue tipshttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/aug/06/barbequechefsrecipes
The pros have made their suggestions in today's G2 - what are your top tips and recipes for a successful barbecue?<p><img alt="bbq440.jpg" src="http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/food/bbq440.jpg" width="440" height="300" /></p><p><span class="caption">A tuna steak over the coals. Photograph: Dennis Gottlieb/Getty</span></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/aug/06/barbequechefsrecipes">Continue reading...</a>Food & drinkLife and styleChefsBarbecueTue, 05 Aug 2008 23:10:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2008/aug/06/barbequechefsrecipesRachel Dixon2008-08-05T23:10:00Z